Gold amalgamator



Dec. 26, 1939 J. H. THORNTON GOLD AMALGAMATOR Filed July 18,.1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l I N VEN TOR. T/mmfm a 6 5 6 Joseph/9 BY 4454/ ATTORNEYS.

D86. 26, 1939. THORNTON 2,184,447

GOLD- AMALGAMATOR Filed Jfily 18, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INV EN TOR.

Patented Dec. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES time 7 Claims.

This invention relates to an amalgamator and has, as one of its objects, to provide a device of this character which is of such construction that ground rock containing gold and other metals may be passed from one bucket to another and the rock and other light refuse passed to the succeeding buckets while the heavy metal accumulates in the bottoms of the buckets.

Another object of the invention is to so mount the buckets that they. are in stepped relation to each other, the buckets being pivotally mounted for tilting movement so that the contents thereof may be shifted toward tilted sides thereof and caused to spill into lower buckets for similar treatment therein while the heavier metal gravitates to the bottoms of the buckets where it has a tendency to collect and remain in .the buckets.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide improved means for imparting rocking movement to the buckets and cause one group of buckets to move toward a tilted position while the buck-'- ets of another group located between the buckets of the first group, move from a tilted position to a level position. It will thus be seen that the buckets of the second group will be moved 'into position to receive and hold the material while buckets of the first group are moved to a discharging position. I

Another object of the invention is to so form the buckets that during operation of the amalgamator, material may be discharged from the buckets into those below them without likelihood of the material failing to .drop into the buckets.

Fig. 3 is a view showing one of the buckets in top plan, together with an agitator associated with the bucket.

Fig. 4 is a view in elevation of an end portion of a bucket having a modified form of agitator as sociated therewith. 1

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken transversely through a bucket having a rubber 'lining.

Another object of the invention is to provide.

tate toward the bottom of the buckets where it improved am al Fig. 6 is a perspective view of another modified form .of agitator.

Fig. '7 is a sectional view taken transversely through a bucket having a removable liner therein and a modified form of agitator associated 5' with the'bu'cket.

This amalgamator has a frame formed of side walls l which are of triangular shape, as shown in Fig. l, and connected by front and rear cross bars 2 and 3.

i slope downwardly from the front end of the frame to the rear end thereof and, as the buck ets 5 extend transversely of the frame andhave their. shafts or trunnic-ns t rotatably mounted in bearings l carried by the top rails t and spaced from each ct er longitudinally thereof, the buckets will be disposed in stepped relation to each other and material may be easily discharged from each bucket to a bucket belowit. While six buckets have been shown, it will be understood that any number may be used, provided there are at least two buckets.

The buckets are to have rocking motion impartedthereto during use of the amalgamator and bucketsone, three and five are to be tilted toward a discharging position while buckets two, fourand six are moving from a discharging position toward a horizontal position, In order to do so, alternate buckets have theirtrunnions or stub shafts projecting from opposite sides of the frame, as shown in Fig. 2, and these extended shafts carry depending crank arms, 3 connected by pitman bars 9, the upper crank arms also having pivoted-to them, links it which have their rear ends pivoted to crank arms 11 9 carried by a drive shaft it. The shaft it extends transversely across the front end of the frame l adjacent the upper end thereof, where it is rotatably mounted in bearings it and intermediate its length, it carries a pulley it aboutwhichis engaged a belt for transmitting rotary motion to the shaft from a suitable source of power. The crank arms H extend in directions-diametrically opposite each other and, therefore, when the buckets one, three and five, connected with the 45 crank arm at oneend of the shaft, aretilted toward a discharging position, the buckets two, four and six, connected with the other crank arm, will be moved toward a horizontal posh tion. By this arrangement, groundrock con taining gold or other metals may .be placed in the upper ,bucket'and as this bucket is rocked transversely, the material will be shifted first in one direction and then in the opposite direct'ion and the heavy metal will have a tend- The upper rails t of the walls '10 ency to gravitate toward the bottom of the bucket. This motion is similar to that used when panning gold in a hand pan and, as the bucket is rocked, the rock and other light material will spill over the downwardly tilted side of the bucket and drop into the bucket below it which, at that time, moving toward its horizontal position.

Each bucket tapers toward its rear side, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and, therefore, when a bucket is tilted, its constricted side will be disposed over the wider side of the bucket below it and the material discharged from the higher bucket will drop into the lower bucket without likelihood of dropping upon the ground instead of into the lower bucket. It should also be noted that each bucket, when viewed in cross section, has a gradual slope toward its upper or front side, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7, whereas its lower or rear side is abrupt. This will cause the material to be readily discharged from a bucket as the bucket is tilted toward the rear or lower end of the frame but, when the bucket is returning to a horizontal position, the material will not be discharged from the front side of the bucket.

A large part of the precious metal will be retained in the first bucket but part will be discharged therefrom into the second bucket, and, as the material is successively transferred from one bucket to another, the precious metal will gradually be removed from the rock until finally all of the metal has been gathered in the buckets and only rock and other waste matter will be delivered from the lowest bucket.

The buckets may be mounted in bearings permitting the removal of the buckets for dumping the accumulated metal from them or they may be provided with liners l6 which may be of rubher, as shown in Fig. '5, or metal, as shown in Fig. 7, where the liner has been shown provided with a handle I! at each end to allow the liner to be easily removed. Water is poured into the buckets to assist washing of the metal from the rock during rocking of the buckets and, if so desired, a supply of mercury may be placed in each bucket, as shown at I8 in Fig. '7.

The upper buckets have been shown provided with agitating means for assisting separation of the metal from the ground rock but it is to be understood that all of the buckets may be provided with agitators if so desired.

One form of agitator has been illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 and referring to these figures it will be seen that the agitator consists of a bar I9 extending transversely of the frame over the bucket and carrying pins or rods. 20 which are secured vertically through the bar by nuts 2| and constitute teeth of such length that they extend into the bucket with their lower ends terminating adjacent the bottom of the bucket. The bar is mounted between ears 22 projecting upwardly from brackets 23 carried by the side rails 4 and, in order to secure the bar between these ears there have been provided latch bolts 24. Each latch bolt is loosely engaged with one of a pair of ears by an eye at its end and the other end portion of the bolt engaged through a slot 25 in the companion ear. The latch. bolts may thus be swung into or out of a securing position across the bar 19 and when the wing nut 26 of the bolt is tightened the bar will be firmly secured. While the bar will be held in place against accidental dislodgement, it will not be bound between the ears and, herefore, the bar may have sliding movement transversely of the frame. One end of the bar carries a roller 2! which is held against a cam strip 28 by a spring 29 coiled about the other end portion of the bar and confined between the adjacent bracket 23 and a collar 30 carried by the bar. This spring urgesthe bar longitudinally to hold the roller in engagement with the cam strip and, as the cam strip is carried by a plate 3| fixed to the adjacent trunnion B of the bucket by a screw 3|, swinging of the plate and cam during rocking of the bucket will cause the bar to be reciprocated longitudinally when the bucket is in motion. By adjusting the nuts 32 of the stems 33 which connect the cam strip with the plate 3|, the angle of the cam strip may be adjusted. During rocking of the cradle, the teeth or fingers 20 will have movement longitudinally and transversely of the bucket and material in the bucket will be thoroughly agitated and the precious metal more easily separated from the rock.

Instead of forming the agitator as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, it may be formed as shown in Fig. 6. In this embodiment of the invention, an arm or standard 34 having feet 35 at its bottom is motu'ited in straddling relation to the bracket at each end of the bucket, as shown in Fig. 1, where the next to the top bucket is provided with the arms. The upper end of each arm is slotted to form forks or fingers 36 and the agitator plate 3'1, which is formed with teeth 38, has an arm 39 at each end. The arms of the plate 3?, which may be referred to as a comb or rake, has its arms 39 engaged between the fingers 36 of the standards and, in order to firmly secure the agitator, one of the fingers of each set carries a set screw 40. When the set screws are tightened, the agitator will be firmly held in a stationary position and, as the bucket is rocked, the teeth 38 and adjacent portions of the plate will act upon the ground rock and metal in the bucket and cause the heavy metal to gravitate toward the bottom of the bucket. The agitator plate 4| shown in Fig. '7, is a solid plate of copper and is mounted in the same manner as the plate 31. The plate 4! extends downwardly into the mercury l8 and, during rocking of the bucket, the ground material will shift transversely in the bucket under the plate and be acted upon by the mercury which picks up the gold. The plate also picks up gold at its lower end. It will be understood that all of the buckets may be provided with agitators constructed and mounted as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, or as shown in Figs. 6 or '7.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A mining machine comprising a support, buckets carried by said support and arranged in stepped relation to each other, said buckets being pivotally mounted for transverse tilting movement, and means for tilting alternate buckets forwardly and downwardly toward a tilted position while the buckets between the first buckets are moving upwardly and rearwardly toward a horizontal position for receiving material dumped from the first buckets.

2. A mining machine comprising a plurality of buckets pivo-tally mounted in stepped relation to each other, means for tilting alternate buckets forwardly and downwardly to a discharging position and at the same time tilting buckets below them upwardly and rearwardly towards the first buckets from a discharging position to a horizontal position for receiving material discharged from the first buckets, and agitators mounted in cooperating relation to certain of said buckets and actuated by movement thereof.

er arms at the other sideof the machine, pitman rods connecting the rocker arms in groups at opposite sides of the machine, and means for.

reciprocating said rods in opposite directions and causing the buckets of one group to tilt forwardly and downwardly toward a discharging position while the buckets of the other group are moving upwardly, and rearwardly from a tilted position towarda position for receiving material discharged from the tilted buckets.

4. A mining machine comprising a supporting frame having side walls formed with sloping upper edges, buckets extending across said frame and having axles mounted in bearings upon the sloping upper edges of the side walls in stepped relation to each other, crank arms depending from the axles of alternate buckets at one side of said frame, the buckets between said alternate buckets having crank arms carried by their axles at the other side of the frame, pitman rods at opposite sides of said frame connecting the arms at the sides of the frame in groups, a drive shaft rotatably mounted at an end of said frame and extending transversely across the frame, crank arms carried by said shaft at opposite sides of said frame and extending radially of the shaft in opposite directions, means for rotating said shaft, and pitman links connecting the crank arms of said drive shaft with the pitman rods and moving the pitman rods in opposite directions for causing the groups of buckets to be tilted in opposite directions.

5. A mining machine comprising a frame, bearings at opposite sides of said frame, buckets extending across said frame and having trunnions at their ends journaled through said bearings, means for imparting transverse rocking movement to said buckets, and an agitator associated Y with one bucket and consisting of bearing brackets carried by said frame at opposite sides thereof over the bearings for the bucket, an agitating member engaged through said bearing brackets over the bucket and slidably longitudinally of the bucket, a cam fixed to the trunnion at one end of the bucket for oscillating movement in position for engagement by one end of the agitator member, and resilient means urging said agitator member longitudinally. toward said cam whereby during rocking of the bucket and oscil- I lating of the cam reciprocating movement will be imparted to the agitating member longitudinally of the bucket.

6. A mining machine comprising a frame, bearings at opposite sides of said frame, buckets ex-'- tending transversely across said frame and having trunnions at their ends journaled through said bearings, means for imparting transverse rocking movement to said buckets, and an agitator associated with one bucket and consisting of bearing brackets. carried by said frame at opposite sides thereof'over the bearings forthe bucket, a bar extending longitudinally of said bucket over the same with its end portions slidably mounted in said brackets and held against rotation therein, fingers depending from said bar .into said bucket, a roller at one end of said bar,

a plate fixed to the adjacent trunnion and projecting upwardly therefrom, a cam strip, stems for said strip adjustably secured through said plate for mounting the cam strip in an angularly adjusted position, and a spring about the oppo ings at opposite sides of said frame, buckets ex-' tending across said frame and having trunnions at their ends journaled through said bearings to mount the buckets for rocking movement, means for imparting rocking movement to said buckets,

' fingers at upper ends of said brackets, and means for securing the arms of the agitator plate between the fingers and holding the agitator plate stationary during rocking of the bucket.

JOSEPH I-I. THORNTON. 

